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Not that I disagree with you, but I think its healthy to remember that you, and me live in a world that is somewhat isolated. I live in Boston, and travel to S

Not that I disagree with you, but I think its healthy to remember that you, and me live in a world that is somewhat isolated. I live in Boston, and travel to San Francisco quite often. Life is great here, its really difficult to see how the recession is actually having an impact. However when I fly home (I grew up in an industrial town in Wisconsin) I see a VERY different picture. There are many people in the US who are not comfortable with their standard of living. Just like France we also have a large portion of youth that has nothing to loose. We also have a large workforce that used to work in factories. These people didn't disappear when we transitioned their jobs. The standard point of view in capitalism is to say "well now they have the opportunity to move on to better jobs" which would be true if it was possible to take a person who pulled a lever all day, and teach him to program a computer... but that is very rarely true. Instead they end up getting "downgraded" instead of working in a factory making $20/hr they're now working in Walmart making $10/hr... or less. Why and how does not matter to this group of people, what does matter is that they used to live a middle class comfortable life, and now they don't. Please don't confuse my statements with the idea that i'm saying there's going to be a 'revolution'. What i'm saying is the pot is already hot, and has been for a while. Personally I think the big barrier stopping people from joining the momentum from Tunisia is that a clear end goal is not obvious the way it is in a country with a cruel dictator. However once Glenn Beck, or some other idiot gives them one (whether it is in their interests or not)... its hard to say nothing will happen.

motters 16y ago
The standard view is that redundant factory workers move into retail or the "knowledge economy" (such as IT workers), but these white collar jobs are going to be just as vulnerable to a combination of technological unemployment and outsourcing. IT has already seen a considerable amount of outsourcing. Ultimately I think the solution is going to be a Citizens Income, but that's an entirely different discussion.
deleted 16y ago
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jeromec 16y ago
I'm glad you pointed this out, as I was going to express something similar. I don't know that I would classify the pot as "hot", but at the same time I'm glad Jacques tempered his opinion with the following: If a dictator should come to power (which you can never really rule out, even in a democracy) then that may change but it won't change overnight. I completely agree with that, as did Thomas Jefferson apparently: The price of freedom is eternal vigilance. and The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants. Under the Bush administration we got the Patriot Act, warrant-less wiretaps, torture, and the repeal of habeas corpus (the right to due process which had to be reversed by the Supreme Court). There was a thread before on HN about some new Orwellian syle video from the DHS featuring Secretary Napolitano admonishing shoppers at checkouts in Walmarts to keep on the lookout for anything suspicious. At airports we are now forced to either be exposed to a radiation laden scan of our body, or intrusive physical pat down whenever we take a flight, no matter that we've done nothing wrong. Indeed, you risk being arrested [1] with this direct challenge to the Fourth Amendment which guards against unreasonable searches and seizures if you don't submit to it. So while I agree with Jacques that Americans are much farther from any revolt than the people of Tunisia or Egypt, and I wouldn't say there is a pot which is boiling, or maybe even hot, I also think it's a mistake to imagine there is no pot at all. [1] http://noblasters.com/post/1650102322/my-tsa-encounter http://noblasters.com/post/1650102322/my-tsa-encounter

motters 16y ago

The standard view is that redundant factory workers move into retail or the "knowledge economy" (such as IT workers), but these white collar jobs are going to be just as vulnerable to a combination of technological unemployment and outsourcing. IT has already seen a considerable amount of outsourcing. Ultimately I think the solution is going to be a Citizens Income, but that's an entirely different discussion.

deleted 16y ago

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jeromec 16y ago

I'm glad you pointed this out, as I was going to express something similar. I don't know that I would classify the pot as "hot", but at the same time I'm glad Jacques tempered his opinion with the following: If a dictator should come to power (which you can never really rule out, even in a democracy) then that may change but it won't change overnight. I completely agree with that, as did Thomas Jefferson apparently: The price of freedom is eternal vigilance. and The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants. Under the Bush administration we got the Patriot Act, warrant-less wiretaps, torture, and the repeal of habeas corpus (the right to due process which had to be reversed by the Supreme Court). There was a thread before on HN about some new Orwellian syle video from the DHS featuring Secretary Napolitano admonishing shoppers at checkouts in Walmarts to keep on the lookout for anything suspicious. At airports we are now forced to either be exposed to a radiation laden scan of our body, or intrusive physical pat down whenever we take a flight, no matter that we've done nothing wrong. Indeed, you risk being arrested [1] with this direct challenge to the Fourth Amendment which guards against unreasonable searches and seizures if you don't submit to it. So while I agree with Jacques that Americans are much farther from any revolt than the people of Tunisia or Egypt, and I wouldn't say there is a pot which is boiling, or maybe even hot, I also think it's a mistake to imagine there is no pot at all. [1] http://noblasters.com/post/1650102322/my-tsa-encounter http://noblasters.com/post/1650102322/my-tsa-encounter